The Zilker Tree Lighting is Sunday at 6pm!

Looking for a FREE, fun way to spend Sunday evening?

Maybe you have some family still in town to entertain?

Come out to the 48 annual Zilker Tree Lighting in Zilker Park.
The lights go on for the first time at 6pm on Sunday, November 30th!

Ms. Kat — and about 70 friends — will be there playing holiday music with the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble. It will be ACWE’s 37th time performing at this event — but only the 5th time I’ve been there, although *some* current ACWE members have been there from the very start!

Our Christmas/Sousa mash-up “Jingle Bells Forever” will be led by a surprise guest conductor — who will it be this year??? Come find out!

Taking my kids to their first Zilker Tree lighting — and my first time performing there — 2010.

We have a great time putting this program together, and it’s a great no-pressure way to expose tiny people to large ensemble music. No sitting and no silence required. You can sing, dance, and spin to your hearts’ content!

photo: Christopher Schmitt, flickr creative commons

For more information about the tree lighting, check out the excerpt below, from the City of Austin’s website:

The Zilker Tree stands 155 feet tall and is composed of 39 streamers, each holding 81 multicolored, 25-watt bulbs – totaling 3,309 lights. At the top of the tree, a double star measures 10 feet from point to point. The double star displays 150 frosted bulbs. This unique spiral pattern of lights was created by City of Austin electricians. At its circumference, the tree measures 380 feet. The diameter is 120 feet. The base of the tree is made up of 19 utility poles, each 14 feet tall, arranged in a circle around the Moonlight Tower.